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About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1995)
2 M M ST1999 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT From: Delores Pigsley It hardly seems like a year has passed since the Pow Wow but we will be celebrating another year in just a few weeks. It's a time we all come together and celebrate, have reunions and wish each other well. This year we will sadly miss many who have celebrated in the past. Among those who we will miss is Pauline Ricks. Pauline stood tall during the restoration of our Tribe. She was one of our outspoken members. She served the Tribe for many years on the Tribal Council and continued to serve as a representative whenshe was not on the Council. When I was first elected we traveled and roomed together, she always represented the tribe with enthusiasm, determination, fierce loyally, dignity and most of all, with dedication. She believed in what she did, was a team player, and as a result our Tribe accomplished restoration in 1977. She continued her work with the Pow Wow and encouraging young children to participate, she was always the back bone of our Miss Siletz Pageant. Pauline served for many years as our Whipwoman until her health finally wouldn't let STEDCO Report From Phil Rilatos, Sr., Executive Director First let me say, it's nice to be back home again (for good). That 700 mile drive every weekend will not be missed. I started as the Executive Director of STEDCO on June 19, 1995. I knew what I was getting into, so there weren’t very many surprises! You don't get much accomplished complaining about the past, so I have put STEDCO on a fast track to recovery and we'll overcome whatever the past has left us. We're working on about 12 projects right now. Some very exciting ones. We have been negotiating with ROSS-SIMMONS HARDWOOD LUMBER COMPANY, a top notch hardwood lumber production organization. I was informed on Monday that their Board of Directors have given the OK to a joint venture with STEDCO to run the small log mill. They will put up the additional money and equipment to improve the production of the small mill and run the mill. W e'll split the profits. Anyone that knows the lumber business knows Ross- Simmons. They are a fast precision lumber production company and know how to make money in the hardwood business. In addition to that, we will construct the dry kiln. Ross-Simmons will supervise that construction and put up any additional funds to constuct the kiln. They tell me it takes about 3 months from start date to completion. It will probably take that much time to get the Natural gas to the site. The dry kiln will increase the lumber profits. We are also going to construct a pallet plant. The small mill will be producing pallet stock so we'll have the material. Ross-Simmons her. DI not forget the hard times, the sad times and the good times we shared. This year we will name the Pow Wow grounds in honor of Pauline Ricks. At our most recent Tribal Council meeting I recommended that Mary Fisher fill the Council seat that Phil Rilatos vacated in June when he accepted the position of Executive Director of STEDCO. Phil was an asset to the Tribal Council when elected in 1994. Even though he lived and worked in Washington, he was an active Council member, contributing his expertise in business and management. Phil has a huge challenge before him in managing a new and re-organized STEDCO. We'll miss him on Council. When I was elected to Tribal Council I took an oath to uphold the Tribal constitution and abide by all the rules and procedures of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. I don't take that responsibility lightly. I was faced with making a nomination to the Tribal Council of someone who agrees that the pallet plant is a good idea. We will keep the big mill to cut the big alder when needed and have it ready to go for the fir lumber market if it ever comes back and reasonably priced mill logs become available. Incidently, the joint venture wirh Ross- Simmons is not giving Ross-Simmons 50% of the mill. STEDCO will retain 100% ownership. Ross-Simmons will run and manage the mill. They have agreed to honor the Tribal preference in hiring. They will have their own core-crew consisting of a mill manager, log buyer and a couple of other supervisors. They will re-hire most of the current mill crew back and will have to hire additional people since they plan on running two shifts. SMOKEHOUSE; We have started into the tourist season, so the Smokehouse is doing OK in dally sales. Dan Lundy has been working with WALMART on a Christmas Package. If they accept, that will put the Smokehouse back on the map. We are planning on a inventory reduction sale sometime in August with prices slashed to the bone. We will try to get the date set as quickly as we can and get it out to the Area O ffice Newsletters. Normally, Tribal Members and staff receive a 30% discount on purchases at the Smokehouse. Because we are marking the items down so low, the 30% discount w ill not apply to the Inventory reduction Sale. NEW ENTERPRISES: We have several large projects in progress. Unfortunetely, I can't tell you about them right now because we are negotiating with the sellers now and they have asked that we disclose the information now. I assure you, the projects are "dynamite" and if they go through you can bet I'll be shouting about them from the could fill the vacant position. I have had to do this many times over the past years. These nominations are always highly controversial no matter who is nominated. I considered all the former candidates as well as those who dedicate their time serving on committees. In thé p ast! have nominated and Council has approved: Jane John, Manuel Rilatos, Bud Lane, Pat Morrell, Mike Darcy, Lori Johnson and Buck Downey to name a few. Many have run for office at different times and many have successfully been elected. I selected Mary Fisher as my choice to fill the vacant position for many reasons. She has served many years on the Council and has gained a great deal of experience in Governmental Affairs. She has been elected many times, has always been willing to serve on committees and willing to travel when necessary. I had to take into consideration all of the above when putting a name forward to the Council. The Tribal Council can then accept or not accept by majority vote. I know Mary will serve the Council and membership well. roof tops!!! I can tell you we just purchased the land for the one project so that project Is not a question of "if", it's "when". We are in the process of developing a fish waste compost business also at the mill site. If you have read the local paper about the problem s w ith fish and shrim p compost problems in the area, we can solve that problem for the county with a professional compost business partner. We will joint venture with Thorp's Valley Farms, Inc. out of Eugene. Thorp's Valley Farms has a n . established compost business established in Eugene with a very good reputation. Some of the other projects we are working on are the Fun Center for Chinook Winds Gaming Center, a security business, mini storage, and we are looking at a service station with a convenience store, smoke shop, etc.. We are also considering reviving the mini-mall project that was scrapped a few years back. Jay is about to complete the Long Prairie timber sale. That should be sold in August. We're playing a waiting game on the Salem site. When the court makes whatever decision they make, that will dictate our next move. There is a study and plan developed for- ari RV park there. There is also speculation on a possible BINGO site there. So, the Salem site is kind of up in the air yet. STEDCO doesn't have much of a staff in terms of numbers. We've only got a few, but they hit the ground running and all are doing an excellent job getting things in shape and on the move. I really appreciate these guys. So, as you can see, we've got things moving around here. I hope that what I see happening with STEDCO, you will also see and hear of it happening.
